We have all heard the admonition, “Don’t confuse the forest for the trees” — meaning, “Don’t let the minor details prevent you from seeing the larger picture.” With Donald Trump, we have this problem in spades. Every day, it seems, we are hit by a firehose jammed so full of ugly details that we cannot even imagine the larger picture.
First, let me give a sampling of the details: 1.) the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development, causing an estimated 750,000 deaths, mostly children, and 14 million deaths by 2030 (see the Lancet, July 19, 2025); 2.) mass arrests, incarcerations and deportations of immigrants, most of whom have committed no crimes; 3.) Trump’s continuous denials of wrongdoing regarding the Epstein files, despite his name appearing in them over a thousand times; 5.) Trump’s attacking Iran on a whim (his shifting justifications and his apparent surprise at Iran’s responses show a lack of forethought); 6.) Trump’s statement to The New York Times on Jan. 10 that “his own morality and mind are the only true limits to his global power” (speaking of morality, The Times on Jan. 20 reported that Trump has pocketed at least $1.4 billion during his presidencies).
This is just a tiny sample. Now, for the “larger” picture. I will be brief here, since only a mental health professional can do it justice. This has been done by many (see, for example, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President,” edited by Dr. Bandy Lee, 2017). I will only state the basic conclusion, from Dr. John Gartner: that Trump is a malignant narcissist with hypomania. He adds, chillingly: “(Trump) evinces the most destructive and dangerous collection of psychiatric symptoms possible for a leader” (Page 107).
Do I need to add that our survival as a democracy is in peril? Don’t forget to vote, every chance you get.
Frederick Longacre
Hockessin
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
